{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,14]],"date-time":"2026-10-14T18:58:04Z","timestamp":1792004284227,"version":"4.4.0"},"reference-count":36,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"15","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,29]],"date-time":"2026-07-29T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1785283200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100005196","name":"Scientific Research Team of Zhongyuan Research Center, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["CAAS-ZRC-ZYZX20230203"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["CAAS-ZRC-ZYZX20230203"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100005196","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["CAAS-ZRC-ZYZX20230203"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["CAAS-ZRC-ZYZX20230203"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/0313jb750","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"China Agriculture Research System","award":["CARS-06-15.5-B5"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["CARS-06-15.5-B5"]}]},{"award":["CARS-06-15.5-B5"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["CARS-06-15.5-B5"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/03p5eky76","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Modern Agriculture Research System of Hebei Province","award":["HBCT2024070201"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["HBCT2024070201"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Plants"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Sorghum seeds accumulate substantial amounts of condensed tannins (CTs), which are also referred to as proanthocyanidins (PAs), contributing to their characteristic astringent taste. Flavan-3-ol polymers, known as PAs, are sequestered within plant vacuoles and become catalytically activated via laccase enzymes. However, the biological roles and regulatory pathways of laccases in sorghum are still largely unclear. Here, integrated transcriptomic and metabolomic profiling of developing sorghum seeds identified 7942 differentially expressed genes between low- and high-CT lines, with Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment revealing flavonoid biosynthesis as a key pathway; weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) further pinpointed SbLAC14 as a hub gene within the module most strongly correlated with CT content. We then examined its regulation by microRNA397 (SbmiR397-5p). Dual-luciferase assays confirmed the binding of SbmiR397-5p to SbLAC14 in co-transformed tobacco leaves. Overexpressing SbLAC14 in transgenic Arabidopsis significantly increased CT accumulation while decreasing catechin and epicatechin levels. Furthermore, transgenic plants overexpressing miR397 (OEmiR397-5p) exhibited reduced CT content, accompanied by a lightening of seed color. Conversely, transgenic lines overexpressing a miR397-insensitive laccase transcript exhibited a reversed phenotypic outcome. Our findings indicate that SbmiR397-5p negatively regulates the expression of SbLAC14 in relation to CT biosynthesis, identifying it as a potential target for manipulating CT metabolism in sorghum. Those results provide a genetic entry point for metabolic engineering and breeding efforts aimed at modulating grain phenolic profiles.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/plants15152339","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,29]],"date-time":"2026-07-29T17:01:46Z","timestamp":1785344506000},"page":"2339","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Integrated Transcriptomic and Metabolomic Profiling Reveals the Involvement of the miR397-5p\u2013SbLAC14 Module in Condensed Tannin Accumulation in Developing Sorghum Seeds"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8125-8422","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yannan","family":"Shi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Millet Crops, Hebei Academy of Agriculture & Forestry Sciences, Hebei Branch of China National Sorghum Improvement Center, Shijiazhuang 050035, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yongchao","family":"Guo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Millet Crops, Hebei Academy of Agriculture & Forestry Sciences, Hebei Branch of China National Sorghum Improvement Center, Shijiazhuang 050035, China"},{"name":"China-Australia Joint Laboratory for Sorghum Transformation and Genome Editing, Shijiazhuang 050035, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jinping","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Millet Crops, Hebei Academy of Agriculture & Forestry Sciences, Hebei Branch of China National Sorghum Improvement Center, Shijiazhuang 050035, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zhifang","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Millet Crops, Hebei Academy of Agriculture & Forestry Sciences, Hebei Branch of China National Sorghum Improvement Center, Shijiazhuang 050035, China"},{"name":"China-Australia Joint Laboratory for Sorghum Transformation and Genome Editing, Shijiazhuang 050035, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zhiyin","family":"Jiao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Millet Crops, Hebei Academy of Agriculture & Forestry Sciences, Hebei Branch of China National Sorghum Improvement Center, Shijiazhuang 050035, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xue","family":"Ma","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Millet Crops, Hebei Academy of Agriculture & Forestry Sciences, Hebei Branch of China National Sorghum Improvement Center, Shijiazhuang 050035, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shilong","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Hebei Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology, College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, Hebei Normal University of Science and Technology, Qinhuangdao 066000, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Baoqing","family":"Dun","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Zhongyuan Research Center, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Xinxiang 453000, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Haifang","family":"Sun","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Agricultural Information and Economy, Hebei Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Shijiazhuang 050051, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jingtian","family":"Niu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Millet Crops, Hebei Academy of Agriculture & Forestry Sciences, Hebei Branch of China National Sorghum Improvement Center, Shijiazhuang 050035, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Peng","family":"Lv","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Millet Crops, Hebei Academy of Agriculture & Forestry Sciences, Hebei Branch of China National Sorghum Improvement Center, Shijiazhuang 050035, China"},{"name":"China-Australia Joint Laboratory for Sorghum Transformation and Genome Editing, Shijiazhuang 050035, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5979-785X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Guoquan","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"China-Australia Joint Laboratory for Sorghum Transformation and Genome Editing, Shijiazhuang 050035, China"},{"name":"Centre for Crop Science, Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,29]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"10281","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.1201700109","article-title":"Presence of Tannins in 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